Opah, the first warm blooded fish identified: 7 facts you should know about it

Opah, the first warm blooded fish identified: 7 facts you should know about it

Researchers from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has discovered a big fish , named Opah.

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IndiaToday.in

New Delhi

May 15, 2015

UPDATED: May 15, 2015 16:01 IST

Opah.

Scientist/ researchers from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has discovered a big fish , named Opah, that lives deep in the Pacific Ocean and has been found to be warm blooded, like humans, other mammals and birds.

The warm blooded fish is also known as the moonfish, it averages 100 pounds and has a diameter of 3 feet and can grow to up to 6 feet long.

Here are the 7 things that you should definitely know about Opah:

1. The Opah is a rusty reddish color fish which has white spots and bright red fins. It weighs up to 200 pounds (90 kg) and is about the size of a car tire, with an oval body shape.

2. It spends most of its time at depths of 165-1,300 feet (50-400 meters), hunting fish and squid.

3. The Opah is the first fish species found to be fully warm-blooded, circulating heated blood throughout its body much like mammals and birds, research has revealed.

4. Fish like Opah which are found in the waters off the US, Australia and several other countries, generates heat by constantly flapping its fins and has developed an internal "heat exchange" system within its gills to conserve the warmth.

5. Warm blood that leaves the Opah's body core helps heat cold blood returning from the surface of the gills where it absorbs oxygen, maintaining an average body temperature of about 4 degree C to 5 degree C.

6. A unique structure within its gills lets warm blood that leaves the body core heat up cold blood returning from the gills' respiratory surface.

7. Being warm-blooded gives it distinct advantages over its cold-blooded prey and competitors including faster swimming speeds and reaction times, better eye and brain function and the ability to withstand the effect of cold on vital organs.

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